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Five more Amarnath pilgrims die; toll rises to 83

Officials reported on Monday that five more pilgrims died en route to the cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas, estimating the toll during this year's pilgrimage to 83.

They said that Badri Prasad, aged 25 years, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was killed when he was hit by a falling stone from a hillock at Railpathri along Baltal-cave route.

Officials said that Nand Kishore Lal, aged 66 years, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, died of cardiac arrest at Baltal base camp, meanwhile a body of a sadhu identified as Ram Saroud was found dead near the holy shrine.

Officials added that, in another incident, Navratna Devi of Bihar suffered a massive heart attack while crossing the sangam along the cave route and died while being shifted to a nearby make shift hospital.

Shiv Karam, aged 73 years, a resident of Madhya Pradesh died at Baltal base camp hospital, where he was soon admitted after he had suffered a heart attack.

The annual Amarnath yathra commenced on June 25th from the twin tracks from Baltal and Pahalgam and scheduled to end on August 2nd , coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.